Potato patch

Above: our potato patch today!

Potatoes remain one of the most popular allotment crops perhaps due to its longstanding tradition or because they are so gratifying to grow. The Sarpo Axona seed potatoes we put down in March are maturing nicely. We planted them around  six inches deep and plan to add an extra one inch of soil over the next two weeks. While excessive watering can bring on too much leaf growth at the expense of the tubers, they need to be kept moist. A good dousing every two weeks in dry weather is recommended and when the flowers are forming. 

As they grow, earth them up by drawing soil over them with a hoe to prevent light getting to the tubers. This will encourage a greater yield from the base. When the flowers are open, the earlies are ready, usually after 90 days. They should be eaten soon after harvesting. 

On allotment ground it is important to be extremely careful to avoid potato disease. Problems that can arise are potato cyst eelworm, potato blight, wireworm, scab, blackleg, potato common scab, rust spot and slugs. A breakthrough is the Sarpo Axona variety. It has a near-perfect resistance to blight and good resistance to slugs and wireworm. So fingercrossed for a healthy harvest. 

Hot potatoes

The planting began in earnest this week. Top of the list was the potato sets, 'blight resistant' sarpo mira from Fruit Hill Farms. I had them 'chitting' in egg cartons for a number of weeks. Some sprouted well, some not at all. Anyway, in they went. I dug holes six inches deep; placed the seed potatoes in; piled in the manure; and covered with soil. Voila. I lost count how many I planted, roughly 24 in total. 

One potato, two potato....oh chit!

With the Grand Slam last weekend I neglected the allotment, in fact I simply just ignored it. I had planned to plant the first crop of seedlings but instead I was glued to O'Driscoil, O'Gara, O'Connell & Co and no, I didn't feel guilty.
Then I had to take Mother's Day off to attend the glorious homecoming and even got a glimpse of the Six Nations Cup. Oops, I'm going to have to dig deep this week to overcome the relapse!
On the agenda is the potato. Supermarket potatoes don't come close to the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth floury taste of the Irish spud. Little did I know that growing potatoes was as controversial as the pension levy. Debate rages every year over whether you should "chit" seed potatoes before planting time or if you can just bung them into the ground.
For the unskilled (me!) chitting aka greensprouting is putting your seed potatoes in a cool but light area, rose end upward for several weeks so they form strong, strudy shoots.
Some experts, including Paula Prender, our allotment teacher in Castlefarm, Athy encourages chitting in that it gives the potatoes a head start in the growing season so they mature nicely before a blight strikes.
My mom, daughter of an Offaly potato farmer, is strongly opposed to the idea of chiiting; so much so she laughed heartily at my neatly-rowed seed potatoes in egg cartons.
She reasons the sprouted potatoes will find the soil to cold when planted out and their growth will slow as a result. "You're fussing over them, pampering and spoiling them; they aren't grandkids you know," she jokes.
To find out what method works best for me, I'm going to do both and see what happens; the proof will be in the potato.
And to get the debate really raging, should I leave all the shoots on the chitted potatoes or rub some off? Answers on a postcard please!